Vietnam and Bangladesh are two countries with similar historical backgrounds, having gone through decades of struggle for independence. The two countries officially established diplomatic relations on February 11, 1973. Since then, the traditional friendship between the two countries has always been strong. The leaders and people of the two countries have always had friendly feelings for each other, with high political trust. This is a solid foundation for promoting bilateral cooperation in all fields.
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Bangladeshi Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury pose for a photo. Photo: Doan Tan – VNA
Over the past 50 years, political relations between the two countries have been strengthened and become more trustworthy through high-level visits and contacts, notably on the Vietnamese side were visits to Bangladesh by President Tran Duc Luong (March 2004), President Tran Dai Quang (March 2018) and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (September 2023), and on the Bangladesh side were visits to Vietnam by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia (May 2005); Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (November 2012); President Abdul Hamid (August 2015); Speaker of the National Assembly Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury (July 2017).
During talks in Dhaka in late September, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and his Bangladeshi counterpart Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury affirmed their appreciation of the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Bangladesh, and agreed to increase delegation exchanges at all levels and through State, Government and National Assembly channels as well as people-to-people exchanges, and promote the implementation of bilateral mechanisms, especially the Joint Committee on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.
Along with the exchange of high-level delegations, the two countries have maintained cooperation mechanisms such as the Joint Committee on Economics, Culture, Science and Technology (Vietnam's side is chaired by the Minister of Industry and Trade and Bangladesh's side is chaired by the Minister of Finance and Planning); Vietnam-Bangladesh Joint Subcommittee chaired by the Deputy Ministers of Trade of the two countries; Political consultation between the two Foreign Ministries... The two countries have held 2 meetings of the Joint Committee on Economics, Culture, Science and Technology; 2 meetings of the Joint Subcommittee; 2 Political consultations between the two Foreign Ministries at the Deputy Minister level.
Recently, at the 2nd session of the Political Consultation between Vietnam and Bangladesh co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet and Bangladeshi Deputy Foreign Minister Masud Bin Momen in Dhaka on May 14, 2023, the two sides agreed to coordinate in the coming time to build a long-term vision for bilateral relations, promote the exchange of high-level visits and all-level visits, increase regular meetings of existing cooperation mechanisms, consider early restarting and improving, upgrading the Joint Committee on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the coming time.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of national defense and security, economy, trade and investment, education, agriculture, fisheries and livestock, and enhance cultural and tourism exchanges; agreed to coordinate and promote relevant ministries and branches of the two sides to strengthen the review and extension of cooperation documents such as the Memorandum of Understanding on Fisheries and Livestock Cooperation, the Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation, the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Machinery Manufacturing, the Cultural Exchange Program for the New Stage, and sign a new Memorandum of Understanding on Information Technology Cooperation and the Memorandum of Understanding on Trade Promotion Cooperation, etc.
On the other hand, the two countries also regularly exchange and cooperate closely at international forums, especially at the United Nations. Bangladesh has supported Vietnam to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term. Both Vietnam and Bangladesh were elected to the Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term.
The two sides agreed to continue to strengthen coordination at regional and international forums, support each other's candidacies, as well as share views and positions at forums of developing countries such as the Non-Aligned Movement and South-South cooperation, in order to strengthen the voice, promote solidarity, self-reliance and self-reliance of countries in the region. Currently, the two sides share in a spirit of trust and openness the regional and international situation, issues of climate change, disaster management and mitigation, water security, energy security and migration, etc.
Economically, Bangladesh is one of Vietnam's major trading partners in South Asia. Trade between the two countries increased rapidly, from 288 million USD to nearly 800 million USD in the 2010-2014 period. In recent years, trade relations between the two countries have continued to develop positively despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, bilateral trade reached nearly 1.5 billion USD, making Bangladesh Vietnam's second largest trading partner in South Asia. Vietnam exports rice, animal feed, and raw materials for chemical products to Bangladesh; and imports seafood, tobacco raw materials, and pharmaceuticals.
The two countries have set a target of achieving a trade turnover of 2 billion USD in the coming years. To achieve this goal, the leaders of the two countries agreed to coordinate and promote the exchange of trade promotion delegations between relevant ministries, sectors and business communities of the two countries, explore markets, research products and fields in which both sides have potential, and promote the opening of direct flights connecting the two countries to facilitate increased cooperation and exchange.
[caption id="attachment_607046" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue meets with Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin. Photo: VNA[/caption]Bangladesh proposed that Vietnam consider investing in Bangladesh's industrial parks and software technology parks, affirming that there will be many incentives for Vietnamese investors; and welcomed Vietnam to increase exports of its strengths to the Bangladesh market such as agricultural machinery, raw materials, household goods, electronics, and processed agricultural and aquatic products.
Regarding investment, Bangladesh currently has 18 investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 930 thousand USD, ranking 101/142 countries and territories investing in Vietnam (as of August 2023).
In agricultural cooperation, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in fisheries and livestock for the 2018-2022 period; and extended the Memorandum of Understanding on rice trade for another 5 years (from 2022-2027). The two sides are actively exchanging delegations at all levels to visit, study, and exchange experiences on economic development policies, resettlement and migration, and aquaculture.
Thus, it can be seen that after 5 decades of formation and development, the Vietnam-Bangladesh relationship has grown stronger than ever. However, according to analysts, the relationship between the two countries still has a lot of potential and strengths that have not been fully exploited.
Therefore, to further develop the relationship between the two countries, speaking at the Diplomatic Academy of Bangladesh on September 21 within the framework of his official visit to this South Asian country, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue proposed five specific solutions, including: Deepening political relations, increasing trust and mutual understanding between leaders and all levels and sectors of the two countries; Strengthening economic ties, considering this the focus and driving force for the development of the relationship between the two countries; Deepening defense and security cooperation; Promoting people-to-people exchanges, fostering solidarity and friendship between the people of the two countries; Strengthening cooperation on both bilateral and multilateral channels to respond to the challenges of climate change, rising sea levels, natural disasters, storms, floods, epidemics, water security, etc../.
Minh Phuong
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